Connectable Cigarette Filter

ABSTRACT

A connectable cigarette filter comprises a mouthpiece and a plurality of, or one to two, or two to three filter units connected with the mouthpiece. The mouthpiece is an inclined cylindrical body centrally provided with a stepped aperture. The stepped aperture has a front section formed as a sloped cavity. The inclined cylindrical body has a rear section whose outer surface is provided with a pair of planes. The filter unit is a stepped cylindrical body with a stepped through-hole comprising a large-diameter through-hole and a small-diameter through-hole. The front section of the stepped through-hole is formed as a sloped counterbore. The stepped cylindrical body has a rear section formed as a small-diameter, sloped cylindrical body which is shaped and sized according to the sloped counterbore, so that the small-diameter, sloped cylindrical body of one filter unit is insertable into the sloped counterbore of another filter unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to connectable cigarette filters and, more particularly, to a connectable cigarette filter whose filtering effect is adjustable at will and whose filter units are replaceable if they have lost their filtering function or deliver a poor filtering effect.

2. Related Art

Referring to FIGS. 5, 7, and 8, a conventional cigarette filter 3 is formed as a simply sloped cylindrical body 30 centrally provided with a stepped through-hole 31 comprising a large-diameter through-hole and a small-diameter through-hole. A filter element 4 is installed at a border between the large-diameter through-hole and the small-diameter through-hole. A front section of the stepped through-hole 31 is a sloped counterbore 32 configured for receiving an end of a cigarette 5 (as shown in FIG. 6). A rear section of the sloped cylindrical body 30 is provided with a pair of planes 33 to be gripped in a user's mouth when the user smokes with the cigarette filter 3. Since the sloped cylindrical body 30 of the conventional cigarette filter 3 is designed in such a way that the rear section of the sloped cylindrical body 30 does not match in shape and size with the sloped counterbore 32 at the front section of the stepped through-hole 31, the cigarette filter 3 cannot be nested within another cigarette filter 3. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the cigarette 5 can be smoked with only one cigarette filter 3 mounted thereon. It is impossible to connect two or more than two conventional cigarette filters 3 consecutively to the cigarette 5 to be smoked. As such, the conventional cigarette filter 3 has limited filtering effect on a cigarette 5 with a high nicotine and tar concentration. More particularly, even if the user manages to connect two or more than two cigarette filters 3 together, the pair of planes 33 at the rear section of the sloped cylindrical body 30 of the conventional cigarette filter 3 will cause smoke to leak through a connecting portion between the sloped counterbore 32 and the two planes 33 of every two conventional cigarette filters 3, so that the user cannot smoke successfully with the connected cigarette filters 3.

In view of the drawbacks of the conventional cigarette filter 3 such as the limited filtering effect on cigarettes 5 high in nicotine and tar concentration and incompetence for use in a nested configuration consisting of two or more than two cigarette filters 3, the inventor of the present invention conducted extensive research, performed numerous trials for improvement, and finally developed a connectable cigarette filter as disclosed herein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide a connectable cigarette filter whose filtering effect is adjustable at will and whose filter units are replaceable if they have lost their filtering function or deliver a poor filtering effect.

To achieve the aforesaid objective, the present invention provides a connectable cigarette filter comprising a mouthpiece and a plurality of, or one to two, or two to three filter units connected with the mouthpiece. The mouthpiece is formed as an inclined cylindrical body centrally provided with a stepped aperture. The stepped aperture has a front section formed as a sloped cavity, which is a large-diameter aperture, configured for being inserted by and thus connecting with the filter unit. The inclined cylindrical body further has a rear section whose outer surface is provided with a pair of planes so as to form a generally flat O-shaped, cylindrical body to be gripped in a user's mouth when the user smokes with the cigarette filter. Each of the filter units is formed as a stepped cylindrical body centrally provided with a stepped through-hole comprising a large-diameter through-hole and a small-diameter through-hole. A filter element is installed at a border between the large-diameter through-hole and the small-diameter through-hole. The large-diameter through-hole is formed at a front section of the stepped through-hole of the filter unit as a sloped counterbore for being inserted by a cigarette. The stepped cylindrical body of the filter unit has a rear section formed as a small-diameter, sloped cylindrical body which is shaped and sized according to the sloped counterbore, so that the small-diameter, sloped cylindrical body of one filter unit is insertable into the sloped counterbore of another filter unit, thereby allowing several of the filter units to connect to one another arbitrarily and interchangeably.

Since the connectable cigarette filter according to the present invention comprises the mouthpiece and the plurality of, or one to two, or two to three filter units connected with the mouthpiece, if a cigarette with a high nicotine and tar concentration is to be smoked, a user can connect the mouthpiece consecutively with several of the filter units and then mount the connected filter units on the cigarette before smoking. If the cigarette to be smoked has a low nicotine and tar concentration, the mouthpiece is connected consecutively with only two to three or one to two filter units before the cigarette is mounted with the connected filter units and smoked. Depending on personal habits, one who smokes a cigarette with a high nicotine and tar concentration may also mount the cigarette with two to three filter units connected consecutively to the mouthpiece before smoking so as to suit his/her own taste. The user can easily and arbitrarily increase or decrease the number of the filter units connected together according to personal taste or preference. Meanwhile, the one or two filter units nearest to the mouthpiece may have poor or little filtering effect after being used to filter the smoke of several cigarettes. In this case, these filter units are detached, discarded, and replaced by unused filter units so as to restore the filtering effect of the cigarette filter on nicotine and tar in cigarettes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objective and advantage thereof will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a connectable cigarette filter according to the present invention in use;

FIG. 2 is a partial, longitudinal cross-sectional view of the cigarette filter according to the present invention, taken along line 2-2′ in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a mouthpiece according to the present invention, taken along line 3-3′ in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a filter unit of the connectable cigarette filter according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional cigarette filter;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the conventional cigarette filter in use;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the conventional cigarette filter, taken along line 7-7′ in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the conventional cigarette filter, observed in the direction “8” in FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, a connectable cigarette filter according to the present invention essentially includes a mouthpiece 1 and a plurality of filter units 2 connected consecutively to the mouthpiece 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the mouthpiece 1 is a transparent or opaque inclined cylindrical body 10 having a specific color (for distinguishing the mouthpiece 1 from the filter units 2) and molded from plastic in a single molding operation. The mouthpiece 1 is centrally formed with a stepped aperture 11. The stepped aperture 11 has a front section formed as a sloped cavity 12, which is a large-diameter aperture, configured for being inserted by and thus connecting with the filter units 2 (as shown in FIG. 1). The inclined cylindrical body 10 has a rear section whose outer surface is provided with a pair of planes 13 (also shown in FIG. 1) so as to form a substantially flat O-shaped cylindrical body (as shown in FIG. 8) to be gripped in a user's mouth when the user smokes with the cigarette filter according to the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, each of the filter units 2 is a transparent and colorless stepped cylindrical body 20 molded from plastic in a single molding operation and centrally formed with a stepped through-hole 21. The stepped through-hole 21 has a front section formed as a large-diameter through-hole and a rear section formed as a small-diameter through-hole. A filter element 4 is installed at a border between the large-diameter through-hole and the small-diameter through-hole of the stepped through-hole 21. The large-diameter through-hole at the front section of the stepped through-hole 21 is configured as a sloped counterbore 22 for being inserted by a cigarette 5 (as shown in FIG. 1) or being inserted by and thus connected with another filter unit 2 (as shown in FIG. 2). The stepped cylindrical body 20 has a rear section formed as a small-diameter, sloped cylindrical body 23 which is shaped and sized to suit the sloped counterbore 22, so that the small-diameter, sloped cylindrical body 23 at the rear section of one filter unit 2 is insertable into the sloped counterbore 22 of another filter unit 2 (as shown in FIG. 2), thereby allowing the filter units 2 to connect arbitrarily and interchangeably to one another.

When the connectable cigarette filter according to the present invention is put to practical use, if a cigarette 5 with a high nicotine and tar concentration is to be smoked, the mouthpiece 1 is connected consecutively with several of the filter units 2 before the cigarette 5 is inserted into the outermost filter unit 2(n), as shown in FIG. 1. If a cigarette 5 with a low nicotine and tar concentration is to be smoked, the mouthpiece 1 is connected consecutively with two to three or only one to two filter units 2 before the cigarette 5 is inserted into the outermost filter unit 2(n) and smoked. When smoking the cigarette 5 with the high nicotine and tar concentration, a user may also connect only two to three filter units 2 consecutively to the mouthpiece 1 and then insert the cigarette 5 into the outermost filter unit 2(n) so as to satisfy his/her taste. The number of the filter units 2 connected together can be arbitrarily and conveniently increased or decreased according to the user's personal taste or preference.

After the connectable cigarette filter according to the present invention is used to filter the smoke of several cigarettes 5, the filter elements 4 in the one or two filter units 2(a) and 2(b) nearest to the mouthpiece 1 (as shown in FIG. 1) have absorbed a considerable amount of tar and nicotine from the cigarettes 5 so as to deliver poor or little filtering effect. The filter units 2(a) and 2(b) are detached, discarded, and replaced by unused filter units 2 to restore the filtering effect of the connectable cigarette filter on nicotine and tar in cigarettes. 

1. A connectable cigarette filter comprising a mouthpiece and a plurality of filter units connected consecutively to the mouthpiece, wherein said mouthpiece further comprising: an inclined cylindrical body; a stepped aperture formed in the center of said inclined cylindrical body; a sloped cavity formed in a front section of said stepped aperture; and a pair of planes disposed at the outer surface of a rear section of said inclined cylindrical body; each of said plurality of filter units further comprising: a stepped cylindrical body; a stepped through-hole having a front section formed as a large-diameter through-hole and a rear section formed as a small-diameter through-hole, disposed in the center of said stepped cylindrical body; a filter element installed at a border between said large-diameter through-hole and said small-diameter through-hole thereof; a sloped counterbore, disposed at the front section of said stepped through-hole; and a small-diameter, sloped cylindrical body, disposed at a rear section of said stepped cylindrical body, which is shaped and sized to suit said sloped counterbore.
 2. The connectable cigarette filter of claim 1, wherein said mouthpiece is connected with one or two filter units.
 3. The connectable cigarette filter of claim 1, wherein said mouthpiece is connected with two or three filter units.
 4. The connectable cigarette filter as in claim 1, wherein the mouthpiece has a specific color for distinguishing the mouthpiece from the filter units. 